This was my first experience with Red Leaf Tea, and I have to say the shipping was unbelievably fast! Like, two days door to door, and there are quite a few states between Georgia and Illinois. It’s like they knew I was waiting impatiently at the other end :).

This was also really my first experience with matcha. I love desserty things, and I love green tea, but I wasn’t so sure how the two would combine. Add to that the lack of traditional equipment and I was worried about not getting an authentic matcha experience. Well – I don’t know if it was authentic, but it was really, really good!

I prepared this latte style, all milk (heated in a saucepan) but no sweetener. I sifted about a tsp. of matcha into the heated milk and stirred to combine before pouring the whole thing into a milk frother. A few pumps of the frother resulted in some very impressive, thick layer of foam that didn’t disappear until I drank it.

And the taste was AMAZING! The sweetness in the milk was all that I needed to taste the cocoa powder and creamy marscapone cheese. There was still that nice vegetal green matcha taste to keep things from being OVERLY dessert-ish, though if that’s what you’re after you could certainly order more flavoring. I loved the balance between everything in this, and it’s a shame I only have an ounce of it. Oh well! Guess I better order more then! :)

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I have come to the point (as of October 2014) where quality in tea is more important than quantity. Especially because I’m a seasonal tea drinker where hot tea is concerned, and a SLOW one to boot. I generally don’t resteep only because I’d be here all day if I did, though I do break out a gaiwan from time to time.

I adore French teas in practically every iteration, Japanese Sencha (specifically from the Uji region, as they offer the most seaweed flavor), and Dan Cong oolongs. I am trying to focus on plain teas and so companies like Verdant, Upton, and Butiki are on my favorites list.

When it comes to tea, I feel like the 10th Doctor says it best:

“Tea! That’s all I needed! Good cup of tea! Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses. "